Hangzhou

I spent most of the last week lost and eating unidentifiable foods.  The combination of two Chinese holidays meant that I had a week off from teaching.  Mid-Autumn Day, also known as the Mooncake festival, is based on the lunar calendar, and this year it happened to fall on September 30, right before the week-long National Day holiday beginning on October 1.  I decided to spend the week off exploring the city of Hangzhou.

My school's Mid-Autumn Festival celebration

Last Friday, on the night before the students left for the holiday, our school had a big celebration for Mid-Autumn Day.  The whole school gathered together for a talent show, followed by a dancing around huge bonfires.  Of course, I didn't really know what was going on most of the time.  I was standing by some of the junior school teachers that I recently met, but they didn't really speak English.  All of the festivities were wonderful and crazy, and made all the more exciting at the idea of a week long vacation starting the next day.
I left Baoding on Saturday, and headed to Beijing to catch a train to Hangzhou.  Because most of China's 1.3 billion people have the same holiday, traveling during National Day seems difficult or even impossible.  Hangzhou is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists, and my visions of a relaxing, quiet vacation quickly went out the window.  I spent much of the week searching for solitude, and sometimes I was able to find it in the many trails and tea fields surrounding Hangzhou.  At other times, particularly in train stations and the most popular shopping streets and scenic spots, the crowds were impossible to avoid. 
The main draw to Hangzhou is West Lake, described as heaven on earth because of its beauty.  It is also famous for its variety of tea.  I spent most of my time walking or biking around the lake and its surrounding tea fields and hills.  I don't know that it is "Heaven on Earth" but it was quite beautiful and very different from Baoding. 

Sunset over West Lake

Tea fields outside Hangzhou

An example of the crowds of Chinese tourists during the National Holiday

In addition to my days spent cycling and walking, I spent the evenings trying new and strange foods and meeting people from around the world.  There was a street near my hostel full of street venders, and that is where I ate most of my meals.   The food was strange and unfamiliar, but once I decided just to start trying things it was really delicious and wonderful.  I also like street food because it requires very little language ability.  I know numbers in Chinese, and that's about all I needed.  I would just point at what I wanted, and hope for the best. 

The food street near my hostel

My hostel was attached to a bar/cafe, and I started each day with an espresso and ended each day with a couple bottles of Tsingtao.  Tsingtao is a cheap, popular Chinese beer.  I met many people from all over the world in the hostel.  It was thrilling and exciting to be traveling on my own, but it was lonely and strange as well, especially since I can't speak Chinese yet.  It can feel isolating to be unable to communicate with anyone, and meeting other expats in Hangzhou was one of the best parts of my trip. 
I am back in Baoding now, and school has started up again.  As great as my trip to Hangzhou was, it is really wonderful to have a home base here in Baoding, somewhere to come to rest up and plan for my next big adventure.